Conference Description
The Plant Proteolysis GRC is a premier, international scientific conference focused on advancing the frontiers of science through the presentation of cutting-edge and unpublished research, prioritizing time for discussion after each talk and fostering informal interactions among scientists of all career stages. The conference program includes a diverse range of speakers and discussion leaders from institutions and organizations worldwide, concentrating on the latest developments in the field. The conference is five days long and held in a remote location to increase the sense of camaraderie and create scientific communities, with lasting collaborations and friendships. In addition to premier talks, the conference has designated time for poster sessions from individuals of all career stages, and afternoon free time and communal meals allow for informal networking opportunities with leaders in the field.
Plant proteolysis mediates the processing and turnover of the cellular proteome. Proteolysis is therefore a key process in plant development and differentiation, proteostasis, (a)biotic stress responses and adaptation, plant metabolism as well as senescence, autophagy and programmed cell death. Plant proteolysis involves proteolytic enzymes (e.g. the proteasome) and their associated regulators as well as sorting mechanisms (e.g. endosomal and autophagic sorting pathways) and substrate-tagging systems (e.g. ubiquitination machinery). Proteolysis is necessary in plant protein maturation, activation and degradation. Proteases recognize their substrates in various ways, including post-translational modifications and conditional degrons that allow the cell to rapidly reshape the proteome and acclimate to adverse conditions. Proteolysis appears to be particularly important to plants given the number of genes devoted to proteolysis in plants like Arabidopsis. For example, plants have the largest number of genes devoted to the ubiquitin-proteasome system of any kingdom (~ 1000 E3 ligases), and over 500 individual proteases of different classes. Plant proteases also have important practical applications, including a major role in agriculture through their impact on yield as well as (a)biotic stress defense, as well as biotechnology. The interest and active research in plant proteolytic processes has grown rapidly over the past decade. These activities and successes have been driven by a combination of novel tools and opportunities, including the advances in genomics, molecular biology, novel tools in cell biology and high-resolution imaging, proteomics and mass spectrometry techniques, in vivo activity labeling and structural biology. Examples of recent developments and breakthroughs include the novel insights in selective and organelle-specific forms of autophagy, discovery of novel N-degrons (e.g. enzymatic cysteine oxidation), the elucidation of proteolytic processing of signaling peptides in plant development and immunity, as well as, N-terminal labeling and enrichment techniques (TAILS, COFRADIC), and novel protein degradation/life-time reporter systems. This new GRC aims to bring together researchers studying all aspects of plant proteolysis and covering a wide range of disciplines, including cell and molecular biology, chemistry and biochemistry, imaging, physics and systems biology, to generate new research avenues and provide solutions to some of society’s challenges.
The topics, speakers, and discussion leaders for the conference sessions are displayed below. The conference chair is currently developing their detailed program, which will include the complete meeting schedule, as well as the talk titles for all speakers. The detailed program will be available by April 8, 2023. Please check back for updates.
Proteolytic Systems and Their Study in Plant Biology
Discussion Leaders
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Judy Callis (University of CA, Davis, United States)
Speakers
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Pascal GENSCHIK (Institut de Biologie Moléculaire des Plantes du CNRS, France)
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Diane Bassham (Iowa State University, United States)
Ubiquitin, Ub-like Modification Systems and the Proteasome
Discussion Leaders
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Steven Spoel (University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom)
Speakers
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Libo Shan (Texas A&M University, United States)
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Nitzan Shabek (University of California Davis, United States)
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Ullas Pedmale (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, United States)
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Yangnan Gu (University of California Berkeley, United States)
Proteolysis Technology and Degrons
Discussion Leaders
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Pitter Huesgen (Forschungszentrum Juelich, Germany)
Speakers
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Christopher Overall (University of British Columbia, Canada)
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A. Harvey Millar (The University of Western Australia, Australia)
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Tim Clausen (Research Institute of Molecular Pathology, Austria)
Autophagy: The ATG Machinery, Receptors and Functions
Discussion Leaders
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Liwen Jiang (Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR China)
Speakers
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Tamar Avin-Wittenberg (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel)
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Yasin Dagdas (Gregor Mendel Institute-Vienna Biocenter, Austria)
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Eleazar Rodriguez (University of Copenhagen, Denmark)
Organellar Proteases and Proteostasis
Discussion Leaders
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Bonnie Bartel (Rice University, United States)
Speakers
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Jianming Li (University of Michigan, United States)
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Paul Jarvis (University of Oxford, United Kingdom)
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Monika Murcha (The University of Western Australia, Australia)
Autophagy of Organelles (Pexophagy, Chlorophagy, Mitophagy) and Endocytic Degradation
Discussion Leaders
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Yasin Dagdas (Gregor Mendel Institute-Vienna Biocenter, Austria)
Speakers
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Bonnie Bartel (Rice University, United States)
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Erika Isono (University of Konstanz, Germany)
Proteolysis in Abiotic and Biotic Defense
Discussion Leaders
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Zach Adam (Hebrew University, Israel)
Speakers
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Johana Misas Villamil (University of Cologne, Germany)
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Ari Sadanandom (University of Durham, United Kingdom)
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Xin Li (University of British Columbia, Canada)
Proteolysis in Plant Development, Senescence and Programmed Cell Death
Discussion Leaders
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Nuria S. Coll (Centre for Research in Agricultural Genomics (CSIC-IRTA-UAB-UB), Spain)
Speakers
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Pitter Huesgen (Forschungszentrum Juelich, Germany)
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Frank Van Breusegem (VIB-Ghent University, Belgium)
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Annick Stintzi (University of Hohenheim - Institute of Biology, Germany)
Proteolysis in Biotechnology
Discussion Leaders
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David Craik (The University of Queensland, Australia)
Speakers
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Renier van der Hoorn (University of Oxford, United Kingdom)
The GRC Power Hour™
Organizers
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Marisa Otegui (University of Wisconsin-Madison, United States)